1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of flatbed carts for carrying and supporting elongated or wide products such as lumber, plywood and similar articles.
2. Related Art
Flatbed carts with vertically extending handles and other structures useful for manipulating the carts are generally known and can be seen in exemplary U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,245 (co-owned with this invention); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,476,282; 4,863,179; and 3,689,098.
Such carts are versatile for carrying various products but have much to be desired with regard to carrying, storing and supporting elongated and wide products (e.g., products that are longer and/or wider than the cart bed). Carts that can be used for such purposes find great utility in do-it-yourself or self-service home improvement merchandising establishments that continue to grow in popularity and diversity.
Prior art carts utilize various handles and product support structures at the opposed end sections of the carts, but such structures are not universally usable for elongated articles such as boards or posts, angle iron stock, trim, moldings, etc., as well as wider articles such as wall board, plywood, panels, and the like, all of which are usually longer and/or wider than the cart bed. Moreover, the product support structures used in prior art carts may not permit ready manipulation of the cart when the structures are carrying long and wide products. It is also highly desirable to provide product support and manipulating handles integrated in a single sturdy design that can withstand the rigors of self-service, home improvement merchandising establishments, while still being economical to manufacture.
Prior art carts also are constructed with dedicated handle arrangements that may not be conveniently interchanged with other handle arrangements. However, because of problems associated with inventories of different flat bed carts, repair parts availability, higher costs, and so forth, users of flat bed carts are not inclined to place orders with cart manufacturers each selling carts having different handle arrangements. It is highly desirable, therefore, to provide a universal modular flat bed cart that accommodates different product support handles and maneuvering handles for the cart.